Department for Transport

Shopping

Lord Bradshaw: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Williams of Trafford on 17 December 2015 (HL4437), whether any independent research has been undertaken recently into the number of town-centre shoppers who use public transport and the relative value of shopping trips made by public transport users and shoppers who travel by other means.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon: The Department of Transport is aware of three recent reports. Greener Journeys released “Buses and Economic Growth” (2012), which was funded by Greener Journeys members, and “Buses and the Economy II” (2014), which was part-funded by the Department for Transport. These reports consider the number of people who travel on shopping trips by different means of transport, including buses, and the value of their spending. Passenger Transport Executive Group (PTEG), now Urban Transport Group, released “The Case for the Urban Bus” (2013), which considers the extent to which people use buses for shopping trips in metropolitan areas.

Public Transport: Electric Vehicles

Lord Birt: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what proportion of buses, taxis, and other public transport road vehicles are wholly electrically powered.

Lord Birt: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what proportion of vehicles operated by central Government, or the wider public sector, are wholly electrically powered.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon: We do not have detailed numbers on the information requested.According to Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) statistics some 133 public transport buses, coaches and minibuses are wholly electrically powered. There are no purpose built electric taxis recorded on the DVLA records, although electric cars are used as minicabs and private hire vehicles, and a number of plug-in hybrid purpose built taxis are in development.This Government has a comprehensive £600 million package of measures over the course of this parliament to keep Britain at the forefront of the ultra-low emission vehicle technology. This includes grants encouraging low emission buses and taxis.The proportion of wholly electric vehicles operated by central Government is not recorded by the DVLA. However, the total number of central government electric vehicles that have been purchased via the Crown Commercial Service framework is 20. Just over 300 ultra-low emission vehicles are being integrated into public sector fleets under the ULEV readiness project; with over 70% being fully electric.

Railways: WiFi

Lord Mawson: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the proportion of the rail network in England and Wales that has a reliable wireless internet signal.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon: Our current assessment forecasts that between 68% and 85% of the UK rail network will have mobile network coverage by the end of 2017.

Railways: WiFi

Lord Mawson: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to improve the wireless internet signal on the train network, in particular between London and Sheffield.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon: Availability of mobile broadband services on trains can be an issue, partly due to physical barriers to radio signals reaching the railway track, include railway cuttings and tunnels and due to signal weakening, called attenuation, caused by train carriage walls and windows.In June 2015, the Government launched a Call for Evidence to support delivery of improved coverage, with the intention to build on the work that has already happened across industry. On-train Wi-Fi addresses some of the issues, however we recognise that there is more to do that will require enhancements to trackside infrastructure. That’s why we are working with the rail and telecommunications industries to reach a shared understanding of the technical and commercial challenges, and seek out potential solutions for the rail network, including the London to Sheffield line.

WiFi: Railways

Lord Mawson: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of (1) the effect on UK businesses, and (2) the cost to the UK economy, of inadequate internet connections on trains.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon: The Government has not yet made an assessment of the effect on UK businesses and the cost to the UK economy of inadequate internet connections on trains but our policy of investing in fitting out trains with new Wi-Fi equipment and improving mobile phone signals has been evaluated based on existing evidence that there will be a net economic and social benefit to society from the investment.

Roads: Accidents

Lord Black of Brentwood: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many road traffic accidents in which a dog was injured were reported to the police in each of the last three years.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon: The Department for Transport collates information on animals identified as carriageway hazards in reported personal injury road accidents. However, information on the kind of animal involved in accidents is not collected.The number of reported personal injury road accidents involving animals1 in the carriageway, in Great Britain, 2012 – 20142, is shown in the following table.YearAccidents201280420137342014692Excludes ridden horsesData for 2015 is published summer 2016.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

North Korea: Crimes against Humanity

Lord Alton of Liverpool: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they and the EU will place targeted human rights sanctions on individuals suspected of crimes against humanity in North Korea.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns: We remain deeply concerned by the appalling human rights situation in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK). Without security and stability on the Korean Peninsula and the denuclearisation of the DPRK we are unlikely to see genuine improvements in the human rights situation within that country. This is why the British Government’s priorities of an improved human rights situation and denuclearised DPRK are pursued in parallel. Following the nuclear test of 6 January, we are working closely with other members of the UN Security Council on a robust, and united, international response to the DPRK’s latest violation of existing UN Security Council Resolutions 1718, 1874, 2087 and 2094. These negotiations are on-going and we expect any new resolution to contain further measures that send a clear signal that DPRK’s actions will no longer be tolerated. We will continue to consider a range of available options, whenever we discuss DPRK with international partners.We will continue to deliver the same strong messages on human rights directly to the regime through our Embassy in Pyongyang and in the UK where, most recently, the Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for East Devon (Mr Swire), told the DPRK Ambassador on 7 January, that DPRK resources would be better directed toward improving the lives of its citizens rather than recklessly pursuing its development of nuclear weapons. We also work multilaterally on human rights, through the EU and the UN, where we support the annual UN Third Committee resolution on DPRK Human Rights.

Northern Ireland Office

Human Rights: Republic of Ireland

Lord Laird: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what discussions they have had with the government of the Republic of Ireland concerning the human rights section of the Belfast Agreement 1998, in which that government affirmed "the right to freely choose one's place of residence", in the light of the fact that it is currently against the law to sell a property to someone who cannot speak Irish in parts of the west of Ireland; when and where were those discussions were held, who was involved, and what was the outcome.

Lord Laird: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what discussions they have had with the government of the Republic of Ireland concerning equal opportunities for employment in the Republic of Ireland as outlined in the Belfast Agreement 1998, which affirmed "the right to equal opportunity in all social and economic activities regardless of class, creed, disability, gender or ethnicity", in the light of the fact that the government of the Republic of Ireland currently requires applicants for state employment to be able to speak Irish.

Lord Dunlop: As I have set out in previous answers, the UK and Irish Governments meet regularly at ministerial and official level to discuss issues of mutual interest and concern, and will continue to do so.

Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

Students: Plagiarism

Lord Storey: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what safeguards are in place to prevent students using paid-for commercial essay-writing services advertised on the internet.

Baroness Evans of Bowes Park: The Government strongly condemns any form of cheating. All publicly funded providers of higher education courses are expected to comply with the UK Quality Code for Higher Education, published by the Quality Assurance Agency (QAA). One of the requirements of the Code is to ensure that students do not obtain awards through any form of unacceptable academic practice relating to assessment, including plagiarism. There is no centrally held set of data on the number of recorded plagiarism cases in UK Higher Education – responsibility for tackling plagiarism lies with the HE providers themselves, as autonomous organisations. Institutions have a variety of mechanisms to address cheating by both international and EEA/UK students, including strong policies and specialist software. Between 2012 and 2015, the QAA carried out approximately 650 reviews of institutions. Of these, it only had to make recommendations to 30 individual universities and colleges on the need to improve systems and information related to plagiarism. The QAA are discussing the legality of essay mills with the Consumer and Markets Authority.

Students: Plagiarism

Lord Storey: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether universities keep and make available statistics regarding the number of students who are caught having someone else write their work for them, broken down by academic year.

Baroness Evans of Bowes Park: The Government strongly condemns any form of cheating. All publicly funded providers of higher education courses are expected to comply with the UK Quality Code for Higher Education, published by the Quality Assurance Agency (QAA). One of the requirements of the Code is to ensure that students do not obtain awards through any form of unacceptable academic practice relating to assessment, including plagiarism.There is no centrally held set of data on the number of recorded plagiarism cases in UK Higher Education – responsibility for tackling plagiarism lies with the HE providers themselves, as autonomous organisations.Institutions have a variety of mechanisms to address cheating by both international and EEA/UK students, including strong policies and specialist software. Between 2012 and 2015, the QAA carried out approximately 650 reviews of institutions. Of these, it only had to make recommendations to 30 individual universities and colleges on the need to improve systems and information related to plagiarism.The QAA are discussing the legality of essay mills with the Consumer and Markets Authority.

Students: Plagiarism

Lord Storey: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what strategies are in place to assist universities to monitor companies providing paid essay-writing services.

Baroness Evans of Bowes Park: The Government strongly condemns any form of cheating. All publicly funded providers of higher education courses are expected to comply with the UK Quality Code for Higher Education, published by the Quality Assurance Agency (QAA). One of the requirements of the Code is to ensure that students do not obtain awards through any form of unacceptable academic practice relating to assessment, including plagiarism.There is no centrally held set of data on the number of recorded plagiarism cases in UK Higher Education – responsibility for tackling plagiarism lies with the HE providers themselves, as autonomous organisations.Institutions have a variety of mechanisms to address cheating by both international and EEA/UK students, including strong policies and specialist software. Between 2012 and 2015, the QAA carried out approximately 650 reviews of institutions. Of these, it only had to make recommendations to 30 individual universities and colleges on the need to improve systems and information related to plagiarism.The QAA are discussing the legality of essay mills with the Consumer and Markets Authority.

Students: Plagiarism

Lord Storey: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether there are legal implications for a business that advertises on the internet to write a student’s essay or dissertation, which the student then pays for and submits as their own work for academic accreditation.

Baroness Evans of Bowes Park: The Government strongly condemns any form of cheating. All publicly funded providers of higher education courses are expected to comply with the UK Quality Code for Higher Education, published by the Quality Assurance Agency (QAA). One of the requirements of the Code is to ensure that students do not obtain awards through any form of unacceptable academic practice relating to assessment, including plagiarism.There is no centrally held set of data on the number of recorded plagiarism cases in UK Higher Education – responsibility for tackling plagiarism lies with the HE providers themselves, as autonomous organisations.Institutions have a variety of mechanisms to address cheating by both international and EEA/UK students, including strong policies and specialist software. Between 2012 and 2015, the QAA carried out approximately 650 reviews of institutions. Of these, it only had to make recommendations to 30 individual universities and colleges on the need to improve systems and information related to plagiarism.The QAA are discussing the legality of essay mills with the Consumer and Markets Authority.

Department for International Development

International Assistance

Baroness Tonge: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what core and non-core contributions were made by the Department for International Development to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, the International Planned Parenthood Federation, Marie Stopes International, and Women and Children First (UK) in (1) 2013–14, and (2) 2014–15.

Earl of Courtown: The UK provides support to a range of Civil Society Organisations to help deliver our commitments across a range of priority areas. This includes policy around universal access to sexual and reproductive health and rights, working to save lives from Malaria and ending preventable child and maternal deaths. This supports the UK national interest by leading to a healthier, more prosperous world.DFID made core contributions of £543 million in 2013/14 and £285 million in 2014/15 to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.The International Planned Parenthood Federation directly received core funding of £8.6 million per year during 2013/14 and 2014/15 through a Programme Partnership Arrangement (PPA) but were not in receipt of any other funding during the same period. During financial year 2013/14 and 2014/15, Marie Stopes International (MSI) directly received core funding through a PPA of £4.35 million per year, In addition, MSI directly received other non-core funding of approximately £12.5 million in 2013/14 and £13.4 million in 2014/15.DFID works with MSI and IPPF to improve sexual and reproductive health and rights, including access to modern family planning methods, to give women in developing countries the reproductive health choices they want and need.Women and Children First UK received funding of £177,638 in 2014/15 through the Global Poverty Action Fund (GPAF) which was a demand-led fund to support small and medium sized Civil Society Organisations (CSOs to reduce poverty through service delivery, livelihoods, empowerment, accountability and peace, security and justice.

Overseas Aid

Lord Donoughue: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the £240,000,074 cost of the Department for International Development's 2014–16 Programme Partnership Arrangement extension is to be allocated on the basis of tangible results achieved by charities during the 2011–14 round.

Earl of Courtown: Funding was allocated where organisations achieved significant results in the 2011-14 round of Programme Partnership Arrangement funding and also demonstrated clear alignment with key DFID objectives.

Overseas Aid

Lord Donoughue: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether there are arrangements in place to prevent funding from the Department for International Development's 2014–16 Programme Partnership Arrangement indirectly subsidising other elements of charities' expenditure.

Earl of Courtown: Programme Partnership Arrangement funding is provided to organisations to meet objectives set out in robust performance frameworks, agreed between the organisation and DFID, but it is not tied to specific initiatives or interventions. Organisations formally report against these performance frameworks on an annual basis.

International Climate Fund

Lord Donoughue: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of any changes in agricultural yields due to sustainable agricultural projects funded, in whole or in part, by the UK International Climate Fund.

Earl of Courtown: Agriculture projects receiving ICF support are assessed against a number of performance indicators, including improvement in people’s resilience to climate change, and how they help improve farmers’ incomes and yields. While the evidence on effective climate change actions is still growing, the DFID funded CGIAR Research Programme on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security has reviewed in 2015 the impact of 19 climate smart case studies on agriculture productivity, people’s resilience to climate change and the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. It found that climate smart approaches clearly have the potential to meet our development expectations: all of the 19 case studies contributed towards sustainably increasing agricultural productivity, and related increases in farm incomes, food security and development. 18 cases helped build resilience of agricultural and food security systems to climate change, and 15 cases clearly contributed to reducing greenhouse gases from agriculture.

Department for Education

Teachers: Labour Turnover

Lord Maginnis of Drumglass: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the written answers by Lord Nash on 26 and 27 October 2015 (HL2579 and 2580), and the oral response by Baroness Evans of Bowes Park on 4 November (HL Deb, col 1635), what is the percentage turnover of (1) teachers who achieved Qualified Teacher Status through an undergraduate qualification, and (2) teachers who trained via the Postgraduate Certificate in Education, within (a)two years, (b) five years, and (c) 10 years, of beginning to teach.

Lord Nash: The latest statistics show that 81 percent of qualified teachers remain in service after 2 years, 72 percent of qualified teachers remain in service after 5 years, and 62 percent of qualified teachers remain in service after 10 years. This information is available in Table C2 of the statistical first release ‘School Workforce in England, November 2014’ published in July 2015.The requested breakdown by under/postgraduate route is not available.

Reading: Primary Education

Lord Greaves: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what instructions, guidance, or other advice, they are giving to primary schools about the promotion of silent reading, reading for pleasure, and reading novels, and about teachers reading books to younger classes.

Lord Nash: In the next five years, the Government wants children in this country to become the best readers in Europe. We are determined to make sure that every child, no matter where they live or what their background, learns to read well and read widely. We have made improving the teaching of reading a priority, and reforms to the education system have been designed to help every child become a confident, fluent and enthusiastic reader.We have placed phonics at the heart of the early teaching of reading.The result from this year’s phonics screening check show that, three years on from its introduction, 120,000 more six-year-olds are now on track to become excellent readers.In March 2015 the Department published ‘Reading: Next Steps’ which sets out the Government’s approach to reading and how we will support schools to improve reading standards and promote reading for pleasure. A copy of the document can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/reading-supporting-higher-standards-in-schoolsThe reformed national curriculum for English introduced in 2014 clearly states that teachers are expected to encourage pupils to develop the habit of reading widely and often, for both pleasure and information. Within the national curriculum, programmes of study for English have been developed to emphasise the importance of reading for pleasure, including reading whole books. Teachers at key stage 1 should make sure that pupils listen to and discuss a wide range of stories, poems, plays and non-fiction at a level beyond that at which they can read independently to help develop pupils’ pleasure in reading, motivation to read, vocabulary and understanding. Programmes of study in English at key stage 2 set out that pupils should be able to read silently with good understanding. The programmes of study for English can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-curriculum-in-england-english-programmes-of-studyTo inspire thousands more pupils to develop a love of literature and improve their spoken language skills, we are a funding The Reading Agency during 2015-16 to help 200 primary schools set-up book clubs. The book clubs are being established in primary schools where reading attainment is currently low and there are high numbers of disadvantaged pupils. These schools will also enrol their Year 3 pupils with a public library.In addition, we are funding The Poetry Archive during 2015-16 to produce teaching resources to help primary teachers to introduce poetry recitation to their pupils at an early age.We are also getting behind the ‘Read On. Get On.’ campaign of corporate, public and charitable sector organisations working together to drive improvement to children’s literacy.

Teachers: Training

Lord Ouseley: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how they intend to address the shortfall of trainee teachers in business studies, social science, and design and technology.

Lord Nash: Teaching continues to be a popular career choice for both graduates and career changers, and last year we recruited 1,000 more secondary teachers overall than in the previous year. We recognise, however, that recruitment is more difficult in some subjects than others, which is why we offer generous financial incentives in those subjects where more teachers are needed to meet demand.We continue to support recruitment to Design and Technology initial teacher training through bursaries of up to £12,000. Subject knowledge enhancement courses are also available for those candidates who need to refresh or boost their knowledge of Design and Technology prior to commencing teacher training.Bursaries are designed to incentivise applications in subjects where it is difficult to recruit, and where the Department’s teacher supply model tells us that we need to attract more applicants.

Pupil Premium

Baroness Massey of Darwen: To ask Her Majesty’s Government why pupils not attending school due to health needs are not entitled to the pupil premium.

Lord Nash: This Government is determined that all children, regardless of their circumstances, should receive a good education. Where a child of compulsory school age would not receive suitable education due to health needs, local authorities have a duty to ensure that alternative arrangements are put in place. Local authorities are funded to make these arrangements through their high needs budgets.The pupil premium is additional funding that recognises the further barriers to educational achievement faced by disadvantaged pupils. Disadvantaged pupils who are unable to attend school because of health needs continue to attract the pupil premium. The premium is paid to all state funded schools with eligible pupils, including special schools, special academies, pupil referral units and alternative provision academies. Where eligible pupils are recorded on the alternative provision census as receiving other forms of alternative provision then the pupil premium is paid to the local authority. Information about pupil premium funding arrangements can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/pupil-premium-information-for-schools-and-alternative-provision-settings

Personal, Social, Health and Economic Education

Lord Northbourne: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of whether the majority of secondary schools meet the objective of instilling self-confidence and social and emotional skills in their pupils.

Lord Northbourne: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether Ofsted reports on whether secondary schools meet the objective of instilling self-confidence and social and emotional skills in their pupils when they carry out secondary school inspections.

Lord Nash: All schools should equip young people with the necessary skills to leave school prepared for life in modern Britain. Personal Social Health and Economic (PSHE) education has a vital role to play in this and we want all schools to put it at the heart of their curriculum.This includes developing character traits like self-confidence, motivation and resilience. These traits support academic attainment, are valued by employers, and encourage young people to make a positive contribution to British society. Many schools are already doing this. The 27 schools and organisations that were winners of character awards in 2015 demonstrated excellence in the area. We will continue to support schools in developing these traits in pupils without prescribing compulsory measures. In order to do this, we are investing £5 million in character education, including £3.5m of grants for 14 projects and £1m to the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) to build evidence and expand research into the most effective character education.Last September, Ofsted introduced a common assessment framework for the inspection of schools, early years and further education and skills remits. There is an overall effectiveness judgement underpinned by four graded judgements, one of which is a new judgement on personal development, behaviour and welfare. This aspect, therefore, will be graded and reported on in all school inspections.Additionally, before making the final judgement on the overall effectiveness of all schools, Ofsted inspectors must evaluate the effectiveness and impact of the provision for pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. This means that when judging the effectiveness of leadership and management, inspectors will consider the design, implementation and evaluation of the curriculum, ensuring breadth and balance and its impact on pupils’ outcomes and their personal development, behaviour and welfare.

Schools: Vending Machines

Lord Storey: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what regulations are in place to prevent schools installing vending machines on their premises which allow children to buy sugary drinks.

Lord Storey: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what regulations are in place to ensure that school dinners are of the highest nutritional value possible.

Lord Nash: As a cornerstone of the government’s commitment to healthy eating in schools, new school food standards came into force from January 2015. These standards regulate the food and drink provided both at lunchtime and at other times of the school day, including food and drink provided in vending machines.The standards ensure that children are eating nutritious food at school by setting out clear, easy to follow guidance based on food groups and by giving school cooks the flexibility to create their own meals. The standards severely restrict foods high in fat, salt, and sugar, including high sugar drinks. The regulations permit only healthy drinks with an emphasis on water, milk and fruit juice (with 5% or less added sugars).

Academies

Lord Storey: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what powers local authorities have to intervene regarding safeguarding concerns at an academy school.

Lord Nash: Under the Children Act 1989, local authorities are under a duty to safeguard and promote the welfare of children and young people within their area by providing a range and level of services appropriate to those children’s needs. This is regardless of the type of educational provision.Section 47 of the same act requires the local authority to investigate whether action should be taken by them to safeguard or promote the welfare of children suffering, or likely to suffer, significant harm.The statutory guidance Working Together to Safeguard Children (2015) and Keeping children safe in education (2014) clarifies the core legal requirements for individuals and organisations to keep children safe. The guidance applies in its entirety to all schools. Schools have responsibilities to notify the local authority if there are safeguarding concerns about individual children or recruitment issues linked to individual staff. Statutory guidance also sets out how all schools are expected to cooperate with the local safeguarding children board to ensure that safeguarding practice across the area is joined up and robust.If a local authority has concerns about the general adequacy of statutory safeguarding arrangements in place in a particular academy, they may notify the academies regulator, i.e. the Education Funding Agency (EFA), which can seek compliance, or Ofsted, which has powers to inspect safeguarding arrangements. In such circumstances, the EFA will take appropriate action to check that the academy’s arrangements are compliant with its statutory responsibilities. The EFA may also notify Ofsted of any concerns or evidence it has about an academy’s apparent failure to operate adequate safeguarding arrangements.

Schools: Governing Bodies

Lord Storey: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what are the legal requirements to have a governing body for (1) a maintained school, and (2) an academy school, and whether a school of either kind can abolish its governing body.

Lord Nash: Section 19 of the Education Act 2002 requires every maintained school to have a governing body, constituted in accordance with regulations.Under the Academies Act 2010, an academy is a charitable company limited by guarantee and is therefore required under the Companies Act 2006 to have members and a board of trustees or directors.It is not possible for a maintained school to abolish its governing body or an academy trust to abolish its board of trustees, however, it is possible for a group of schools to be governed by one governing body or academy trust.When two or more maintained schools federate they operate under a single governing body, but each school remains a separate legal identity. In a Multi-Academy Trust (MAT), individual academies do not have a separate legal identity and are all under the control of the trust board. Whether the board establishes local governing boards for each academy, and the range of functions delegated to any such boards, are both a matter for the board to determine – but in all cases the board remains accountable for the academies in the MAT.

Schools: Collective Worship

Lord Storey: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they plan to review the legal requirements that apply to daily acts of collective worship in school assemblies.

Lord Nash: The Government does not plan to change the requirements for a daily act of collective worship. It is for schools to tailor their provision to suit the needs of their pupils, and parents can choose to withdraw their children from all or any part of collective worship.

Personal, Social, Health and Economic Education

Lord Northbourne: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to encourage or require maintained secondary schools to prepare young people, whilst they are still at school, for their probable future role as parents.

Lord Nash: This Government believes that schools are best placed to make decisions about the education of their pupils. Teachers can cover parenting skills in personal, social, health and economic (PSHE) education lessons. The non-statutory programme of study for PSHE includes the roles and responsibilities of parents, parenting skills, the value of family relationships, and the impact of separation, divorce and bereavement on families.

Ministry of Defence

Reserve Forces: Labour Turnover

Lord Empey: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what were the retention figures for members of the reserve forces in the UK for the last three years for which figures are available.

Earl Howe: The requested information is provided in the following table:Future Reserve 2020 Volunteer Reserve Strength Retention – Tri-ServiceFinancial Year (FY)Strength at beginning of FYRetained strength at end of FY of those peopleRetained (%)2012-13 (Army Reserve only)25,98021,73083.62013-1429,39024,46083.22014-1528,15024,43086.8Notes:Retention rates have been calculated using a cohort of personnel on strength as at 1 April each year and checking whether each is on strength at each subsequent April point. Personnel who have left and rejoined during these periods will be counted as retained.Centrally held data dates back to April 2012 for the Army Reserve and October 2012 for the Maritime Reserve and Royal Air Force Reserves. As a result of this Army Reserve retention statistics have been provided for those on strength as at 1 April 2012 and Future Reserve 2020 Volunteer Reserve statistics have been provided for subsequent years.The FR20 Volunteer Reserve population includes mobilised volunteer reserves, High Readiness Reserves (HRR) and those volunteer reserves serving on Full Time Reserve Service (FTRS) and Additional Duties Commitments (ADC). Non Regular Permanent Staff (NRPS), Expeditionary Forces Institute (EFI), Sponsored Reserves and University Officer Cadets are excluded.Figures have been rounded to the nearest 10, though numbers ending in “5” have been rounded to the nearest multiple of 20 to prevent systematic bias.Percentages are calculated from unrounded data and are reported to 1 decimal place.

Afghanistan: Armed Forces

Lord Moonie: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many members of HM Armed Forces are currently serving in Afghanistan; how many are female, and what roles they are fulfilling.

Earl Howe: As of 18 January 2016, there were 458 members of HM Armed Forces serving in Afghanistan under Operation TORAL. Routine movements and minor changes in requirements mean that this number will vary over time. The UK's commitment to Operation TORAL nevertheless remains in line with the figure of around 450 personnel announced by the Defence Secretary in his statement of 27 October 2015 ( Ref: UK Military Support to Afghanistan:Written statement - HCWS273).Out of the 458 personnel, 33 are female. There are 10 UK female officers and 23 other ranks. These personnel undertake a wide range of roles including: medical, force protection, mentors, police, logistics, communications, human resources and administration, and engineering and technical support.



Military Support to Afghanistan
(Word Document, 15.73 KB)

Guided Weapons

Lord Moonie: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many Hellfire missiles were fired (1) in training, and (2) on operations, in each year from 2008 to 2015, and what platforms they were mounted on.

Earl Howe: Hellfire missiles are used by RAF Reaper Remotely Piloted Air Systems and Army Air Corps Apache helicopters.For the Reaper Force, the Air Vehicles have been continuously deployed on Operations over the requested timescale. Consequently, there have been no missile rounds fired in Training from RAF Reaper. The following table details Hellfire missile firings from RAF Reaper on Operations in Afghanistan (2008-14) Iraq (2014-15) and Syria (2015).Year (Jan-Dec)UK Reaper Hellfire rounds fired on Operations200816200932201058201110020121042013942014932015258For the Apache Force the following table details Hellfire missile rounds fired by Financial Year from Apache Helicopters in Training.Year (Jan-Dec)UK Apache Hellfire consumption in TrainingApr 07 - Mar 0814Apr 08 - Mar 0918Apr 09 - Mar 1032Apr 10 - Apr 1148Apr 11 - Mar 1226Apr 12 - Mar 1337Apr 13 - Mar 1416Apr 14 - Mar 1529The Apache Force have fired a total 1578 Hellfire missiles on Operations in Afghanistan (FY 07-08 to 14-15) and Libya (FY11-12). However, the nature of the records held means that this total number cannot be accurately broken down by Financial Year.

Department for Work and Pensions

Personal Independence Payment

Baroness Manzoor: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what case material was examined as part of the review of 105 Personal Independence Payments (PIP) claims referenced in the DWP's consultation on PIP aids and appliances (Cm 9171).

Baroness Altmann: DWP are currently running a consultation to seek views on how support can best be provided to help meet the costs of disability faced by people who are currently awarded points due to aids and appliances. The department is keen to hear views from all interested parties, especially disabled people and disability organisations.As part of the consultation on aids and appliances and the daily living component of PIP, the Department reviewed a sample of 105 cases where claimants scored all, or the majority, of their points from aids and appliances. These were randomly selected.DWP doctors, who reviewed these cases, looked at all the relevant information held on departmental systems relating to each case. This included the application form, the results of any face-to-face assessment and any additional supporting evidence provided by the claimant.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Environment Agency: Public Appointments

Lord Kennedy of Southwark: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to review the terms of appointment of the Chairman of the Environment Agency.

Lord Gardiner of Kimble: Determining the terms and conditions of any public appointment is routine and will be considered as part of the preparations for recruiting a new Chairman.

Home Office

Asylum

Lord Green of Deddington: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many asylum applications have been made in each of the last five years by applicants who entered the UK on a student visa; what were the nationalities of each applicant; how many of those applications were refused, and how many unsuccessful applicants were subsequently removed.

Lord Bates: Over the last five years there have been 15,470 cases of individuals who have entered on a student visa and subsequently also went on to claim asylum. Details by year and nationality are below.Unfortunately the way corresponding data is held on asylum outcome means that to obtain the numbers of cases that were granted, refused and removed could only be achieved at disproportionate cost.Visa NationalityAsylum YearGrand Total20102011201220132014Afghanistan1026637369241Albania263516Algeria742417Angola22Armenia112Azerbaijan4116Bahrain65112Bangladesh1231167318264792Belarus112Benin11Bolivia11Botswana12126Bulgaria11Burkina Faso11Burma (Myanmar)16698421413333Burundi213Cameroon4393352101Central African Republic11China162595162160458Colombia2332111Congo3216Democratic Republic of Congo57517Egypt1812151551Equatorial Guinea11Eritrea6232316Ethiopia95611839Gambia119383932129Georgia257Ghana3328Guinea3125617HONG KONG11India1026244320294894Iran1062444643071481269Iraq6315175495Israel112Ivory Coast1251211Jamaica1225Japan112Jordan2445318Kenya6510121245Kuwait112Kyrgyzstan533213Lebanon126514Liberia112Libya7114735786337Malawi241015940Malaysia1236Maldives11Mali121116Mauritius123410MEXICO22Mongolia12328Morocco366318Nepal43333725102Nigeria61294142136390Oman123Pakistan523851313147112654486Palestinian Authority1824302530127Philippines18121132Russian Federation214310Rwanda9735529Saudi Arabia43613Senegal474318Sierra Leone149216SINGAPORE11Somalia1135South Africa1124SOUTH KOREA123SOUTH SUDAN11Sri Lanka230744113711717153997St Lucia11St Vincent & the Grenadines11Sudan6112311960Syria824256251134673Tanzania10815171161Thailand11Tunisia213Turkey68105332Turkmenistan111339Uganda711423341134Ukraine99Uzbekistan145Venezuela33Vietnam11591733Yemen253515Yugoslavia11Zambia143412Zimbabwe141126151581Grand Total781190143504695374315470Note: The figures quoted have been derived from internal management information and are therefore provisional and subject to change.



Table - PQ HL4837
(Word Document, 130 KB)

Refugee Camps: France

Lord Roberts of Llandudno: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what financial support they are offering to French authorities and NGOs to improve hygiene conditions at the Grande-Synthe refugee camp, in the light of reported concerns from the British Red Cross.

Lord Roberts of Llandudno: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they have taken to honour the humanitarian commitments set out in paragraphs 17 and 18 of the 20 August 2015 Anglo-French agreement Managing Migratory Flows in Calais: Joint Ministerial Declaration on UK/French Co-operation.

Lord Bates: The UK Government is not providing funding to support the migrant camps in Dunkirk or Calais. Instead, and in line with the joint approach of the UK and France as set out in the Joint Declaration of 20 August, the UK has committed to providing £3.6 million (or €5 million) per year for two years to help provide support and facilities elsewhere in France. This is so that migrants can be helped to enter the French asylum system in a safe, systematic and humane manner. Additionally, the UK has provided £530,000 (€750,000) to fund a project to identify those in the camps at risk of trafficking and exploitation, to transfer them to places of safety and to provide them with appropriate support within the French system.

Passports: Hong Kong

Lord Touhig: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will review their policy of not offering British passports to former members of the Hong Kong Military Service Corps and the Hong Kong Royal Naval Service.

Lord Bates: We have agreed to undertake a thorough assessment of the request that this group are offered right of abode in the United Kingdom, based on their employment in Hong Kong. This is under consideration.

Refugees: Syria

Baroness Whitaker: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many Syrian Dom people will be included in the 20,000 refugees selected to be given refuge in the UK.

Lord Bates: The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) identifies refugees for potential resettlement under the Syrian Vulnerable Persons Resettlement (VPR) scheme using its established vulnerability criteria. Although these do not include membership of a particular ethnic group, Dom people may qualify under the criteria, which include survivors of violence and/or torture and refugees with legal and/or physical protection needs. The scheme prioritises those who cannot be effectively supported in the region, and there are no quotas for the number of refugees that will qualify under each criteria.

Refugees

Lord Hylton: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will ask the UNHCR to select individuals and families for resettlement in the UK on grounds of family reunion with relatives, as well as of vulnerability and extreme need.

Lord Bates: We work closely with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)to identify cases that they deem in need of resettlement according to agreed vulnerability criteria for the Syrian Resettlement Scheme. One of the criteria is ‘refugees with family links in resettlement countries’. The scheme was expanded in September 2015 to ensure more of those in the greatest need are resettled in the UK.

Animal Experiments: Primates

Lord Alton of Liverpool: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the Home Office has received any applications from researchers at the Francis Crick Institute to study the impact on implantation or miscarriage of genetic alterations introduced by genome editing in non-human primates, and if so, when.

Lord Bates: The use of non-human primates in scientific procedures is highly regulated and non-human primates can only be used where there is no other suitable animal and where a full harm-benefit analysis has been carried out. In 2014, the last year for which we have data, there was no use of genetically altered non-human primates.The release of information on specific licence applications is restricted in order to protect the identities of people and places and to avoid the release of valuable intellectual property.

Travellers

Baroness Whitaker: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they consider the work undertaken by Thames Valley Police in their newly published review of good practice in policing local Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities to be innovative; and what plans they have to encourage other police forces to undertake a similar approach to policy and practice in their areas.

Lord Bates: Equality and diversity are important – people across all communities want the police to fight crime while having confidence that their needs will be understood and respected.The Government are pleased that Thames Valley Police have undertaken this piece of work which was co-authored by one of the Executive Directors of the national Gypsy, Roma and Traveller Police Association.The Government established the College of Police as the professional body for policing to set standards, establish an evidence base for policing and disseminate what works.It remains a matter for forces how they deal with issues to do with Gypsy Roma and Traveller communities. However, we would expect the College of Policing to make an assessment of effective policing practice and share effective and innovative practice where they find it.

Police: Unmanned Air Vehicles

Lord Condon: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many police forces in the UK are operating drones for intelligence purposes, or for the prevention or detection of crime; and whether such use is being monitored by the Inspectorate of Constabulary, or any other independent body.

Lord Bates: The use of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles is an operational matter for individual police forces, and the Home Office does not hold information on which forces use them. A number of forces are conducting trials to assess whether the use of drones can bring benefits to the provision of the police service. Any use would need to comply with existing Civil Aviation Authority Regulations. Monitoring the police use of drones is not within Her Majesty’s Inspectorate Constabulary's (HMIC) general remit. HMIC have confirmed that they have no plans to consider police use of drones at this stage.

Police and Crime Commissioners

Lord Wasserman: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what arrangements they have made to archive the public papers of Police and Crime Commissioners following the end of their terms in May 2016.

Lord Bates: It is the responsibility of the local Chief Executive in their role as Monitoring Officer and the office of the Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) to make arrangements for the archiving of public papers following the end of their PCC’s term of office in May 2016.

Wales Office

Regional Planning and Development: North of England

Lord Greaves: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the answer by the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Wales, Alun Cairns, on 13 January (HC Deb, col 845) in which he states that the Northern Powerhouse "stretches from north Wales to Newcastle", whether any part of England north of Newcastle upon Tyne forms part of the Northern Powerhouse.

Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth: The Northern Powerhouse is part of the Government’s long-term economic plan to rebalance growth across the regions of the UK and enable the north to be greater than the sum of its parts. The exact extent of the North in the context of the Northern Powerhouse is not prescribed by the Government. The Northern Powerhouse and devolution are locally-led and it is for the local areas of the North to decide on the extent of their involvement.

HM Treasury

Assets: North Korea

Lord Alton of Liverpool: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether any North Korean assets are held in the UK; and what steps they are taking to freeze assets they suspect to be linked to weapons proliferation, smuggling, money laundering, or human rights abuses in North Korea.

Lord O'Neill of Gatley: HM Treasury has, since 2007 implemented European Union sanctions against individuals and entities identified as linked to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea’s (DPRK) nuclear programmes.The result of these sanctions is that financial institutions are required to freeze funds and economic resources of persons, entities and bodies engaged in or providing support for North Korea’s nuclear-related, other weapons of mass destruction-related or ballistic missile-related programmes. Any assets in the UK which are owned, held or controlled by any of the 70 listed individuals and entities identified as linked to North Korea’s nuclear programmes are frozen. HM Government works to ensure that these measures are robustly implemented, including by looking to uncover assets which may be hidden behind complex company structures.

Railways: Scotland

Lord Glenarthur: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they continue to share with the Scottish Government the public finance element of the Caledonian Sleeper franchise operated by Serco Group, and if so, what has been the cost to both Governments since the Serco Group franchise contract commenced in April 2015.

Lord Glenarthur: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made with the Scottish Government of the level of performance of the Serco Group franchised Caledonian Sleeper; and what plans they and the Scottish Government have to ensure that the current aged rolling stock operated by the Caledonian Sleeper remains viable, safe and with adequate provision for passenger amenities.

Lord Glenarthur: To ask Her Majesty’s Government at what date they expect the new rolling stock for the Caledonian Sleeper operated under franchise by Serco Group to be brought into service.

Lord O'Neill of Gatley: Responsibility for the Caledonian Sleeper service is devolved to the Scottish Government.At Autumn Statement 2011 the government committed to invest £50m in the Caledonian Sleeper service, conditional on co-funding from the Scottish Government, to support this valuable cross-border service. This funding was transferred as part of the 2012 Supplementary Estimates round.

Flood Control: Finance

Lord Truscott: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of recent flooding, what plans they have to re-allocate the proposed funding for HS2 to the funding of strengthened flood defences.

Lord O'Neill of Gatley: There are no plans to re-allocate HS2 funding to flood defences. The HS2 budget is to deliver HS2.The Government is separately investing £2.3bn in flood defences through the six-year capital programme, which will better protect 300,000 homes and reduce overall flood risk in England by 5% by 2021.

Landfill Communities Fund

Baroness Young of Old Scone: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether an environmental assessment has been made of the impact of the likely withdrawal of the landfill operators from the Landfill Communities Fund scheme as a result of the proposed removal of the provision for contributing third parties on the environment and projects funded through that scheme, and if so, what environmental impact has been assessed; and what measures the Government are planning to put in place to counteract that impact.

Lord O'Neill of Gatley: Since its introduction in 1996, the Landfill Communities Fund (LCF) has contributed over £1.4 billion to community projects in areas near a local landfill site or other qualifying site and the Government acknowledges the positive impact of this funding for communities. However, as the LCF is a tax credit scheme, it reduces the Government's tax revenues and we therefore have a responsibility to seek value for money for the taxpayer. This is a particular concern given the need to reduce the deficit and return the public finances to a sustainable path.Despite difficult decisions on spending, the Government has decided to retain and reform the LCF. The aim of these reforms is to encourage money to get to communities more quickly. The LCF will provide £39.3 million of additional funding in 2016-17 alone. We also hope more unspent funds, which this year totalled £118 million, will reach projects as soon as possible.The Government is committed to providing the best value for communities, and over the next five years £20 million of the additional Landfill Tax revenues will be used by the Environment Agency to address waste crime, which can be a danger to both human health and the environment.The government has received representations on the LCF reforms. We are taking views into consideration and our priority is to ensure that the LCF operates effectively and encourages money to be spent in the communities that need it.

Department for Energy and Climate Change

Hinkley Point C Power Station

Lord Whitty: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of the recent reported comments from Sir Keith Burnett of the Council of Science and Technology, and Jennifer Baxter of the Institute of Mechanical Engineers, whether they expect 60 per cent of the £24 billion estimated expenditure, and 60 per cent of jobs, on the Hinkley Point C nuclear power station project to go to British firms or workers.

Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth: Work to enable the British supply chain to compete for contracts means that we expect more than 60% of the project’s construction value will go to UK companies.The construction and operation of Hinkley Point C will create 25,000 employment opportunities with a peak workforce of 5,600 people and thousands more in the supply chain. At least 5,000 people from Somerset are expected to work directly on the project.The project aims to create 1,000 apprenticeships alongside £14 million of EDF Energy investment in education and training. When operating, 900 jobs and £40 million a year is expected to be delivered to the local economy for 60 years, through wages and supply contracts.

Cabinet Office

National Flood Resilience Review

Baroness Jones of Whitchurch: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is the membership and terms of reference of the group established to carry out their national flood review.

Lord Bridges of Headley: A National Flood Resilience Review will be led by the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Oliver Letwin and include the Government’s Chief Scientist, Defra, DECC, DCLG, HMT and the Chief Executive of the Environment Agency and the Met Office.We will look afresh at how we calculate flood risk, in light of recent events. This will see Government updating ‘worst case scenario’ planning, considering the future impacts of climate change.Work is already underway and we are testing the resilience of our critical infrastructure, including electricity substations, water treatments plants and telecoms. We have committed to keeping the public informed of progress, and will be providing an update in the coming months, and will publish findings from the review in the summer.

Cancer

Lord Freyberg: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what are the latest figures for the total number and percentage of incidence of cancers and total deaths excluding non-melanoma skin cancer, for (1) the top five occurring cancers, including breast, prostate, colorectal, lung, and melanoma, (2) less common cancers with an incidence ranked six to 15 by the International Classification of Diseases code, and (3) all other lower incidence cancers.

Lord Bridges of Headley: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.



Referral Letter
(PDF Document, 87.81 KB)

Department of Health

Abortion: Northern Ireland

Lord Rogan: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Prior of Brampton on 6 January (HL4779), what "generally" means in that answer, and under what circumstances women travelling from Northern Ireland to Great Britain for an abortion would not have to pay for the procedure themselves.

Lord Prior of Brampton: The general position in England is that clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) arrange health services for persons for whom they are responsible. Broadly speaking CCGs arrange secondary care, which would include abortion services.A CCG could commission services, including abortion services, for persons ordinarily resident in Northern Ireland who are nevertheless registered (on a temporary or permanent basis) with a general practitioner who is a member of that CCG, if such services would improve the physical or mental health or treatment of illness of that person. This would be a matter for the CCG to decide however and they are free to exercise their discretion in that regard. There is no duty on a CCG to arrange health services for a person usually resident in NI (or Wales or Scotland) unless that person is present in the CCG’s area and needs ambulance services or accident and emergency services.

Cancer

Lord Freyberg: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what information (1) the National Cancer Intelligence Network, (2) Public Health England, (3) the National Institute for Health Research, and (4) the NHS more broadly, hold on mesothelioma and other less common cancers covering (a) hospital surgical volumes; (b) hospital systemic anti-cancer treatment volumes; (c) hospital radiotherapy volumes; (d) clinical trial volumes by hospital; (e) cancer stage and grade at presentation; (f) short-term patient outcomes; (g) one-year survival rates; and (h) five-year survival rates.

Lord Prior of Brampton: The National Cancer Registration Service and National Cancer Intelligence Network are both part of Public Health England and collect data on all diagnoses of cancer in England, including mesothelioma and other rare cancers.Data on one-year survival from mesothelioma have been published and is attached. The relative survival for men at one year was 34%; varying between 27% and 39% across England. The relative survival for women at one year was 40%; varying between 24% and 70% across England.Data on hospital surgical volumes; hospital systemic anti-cancer treatment volumes; hospital radiotherapy volumes; clinical trial volumes by hospital; cancer stage and grade at presentation; short-term patient outcomes; and five-year survival rates are not held in the format requested.Data on whether patients have been offered/entered into a clinical trial is now mandated as part of the Cancer Outcomes and Services Dataset, so we anticipate being able to report on this in the future.Within the current financial year, the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Clinical Research Network has recruited up to 80 trials in less common cancers in a total of 124 recruitment sites. Details of the trials recruiting at each site are in the attached table, Trials in less common cancers in portfolio of NIHR Clinical Research Network. The NIHR does not collect information on hospital surgical volumes; hospital systemic anti-cancer treatment volumes; hospital radiotherapy volumes; cancer stage and grade at presentation; short-term patient outcomes; one-year survival rates; and five-year survival rates.With regard to National Health Service more broadly, NHS England has advised that it does not hold the information requested.



Mesothelioma One Year Survival Rates
(PDF Document, 172.09 KB)




NIHR trials
(Excel SpreadSheet, 156.99 KB)

Sugar

Baroness Benjamin: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the answer by Lord Prior of Brampton on 13 January in response to the oral question from Lord Clinton-Davis on what plans they have to impose a sugar tax on fizzy drinks, whether they will consider introducing a mandatory sugar reduction target on all firms in the food and drinks industry because of the high hidden sugar levels in many everyday foods.

Lord Prior of Brampton: Measures by industry to reduce calories, including from sugar, are important components in any approach to reduce obesity. Some parts of industry have already taken a range of actions to help people eat a healthier diet, but the challenge to make further substantial progress remains.We will be launching our childhood obesity strategy shortly. It will look at everything, including sugar, that contributes to a child becoming overweight and obese. It will also set out what more can be done by all sides.

Obesity: Children

Baroness Suttie: To ask Her Majesty’s Government when they plan to publish the Childhood Obesity Strategy.

Lord Prior of Brampton: We will be launching our childhood obesity strategy shortly.

Hepatitis: Prisoners

Baroness Randerson: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what advice and guidance has been provided by Public Health England in relation to the commissioning and performance management of prison healthcare service for prisoners diagnosed with Hepatitis C or identified as being at risk of developing Hepatitis C.

Lord Prior of Brampton: Public Health England (PHE), NHS England and the National Offender Manager Service (NOMS) have worked together to improve the diagnosis of blood-borne viruses (BBVs) (including Hepatitis C) among people in prison and to provide access to treatment and care for those infected through collaborative implementation of the BBV opt-out testing programme, published in the National Partnership Agreement in 2015. A copy of the Agreement is attached.PHE has published detailed expert advice to commissioners and prison healthcare services on all aspects of implementation of BBV opt-out testing, including testing and treatment algorithms. Further, PHE has supported dissemination of guidance through a programme of training and engagement events in partnership with the voluntary sector. PHE has co-developed with NHS England and NOMS a set of performance metrics called the Health & Justice Indicators of Performance (HJIPs) to provide data on the number of people tested, the number requiring treatment and those referred for treatment which supports commissioners in performance management of prison healthcare services.



Partnership Agreement
(PDF Document, 294.81 KB)